A Sports Medicine Perspective on Denard's Injury

The following is something I've been tossing around doing for a while now. I've been thinking about starting a blog focusing on a fairly detailed post on various sports injuries and their treatment. This would be intended to have some utility to health professionals, but still explain things in a way people non medically inclined can also understand and enjoy.

Yesterday I finally got around to putting together a post regarding Denard Robinson's injury. Enjoy and I hope to be getting around to putting together a post a week or so about a new sports medicine topic. Thanks for the time

If you want non-professionals to become readers, you should explain more of the terminology. You say what flexion is, but neither what interosseous muscles nor what lumbricals are. IME, you can get away with not defining terms that have easily accessible, easily understood definitions (i.e., by a quick Googling, as with 'flexion'), as well as with any terms that a reasonably intelligent reader can deduce the meaning of (e.g., obviously 'interosseous' means 'between bones'--but which bones? those of the forearm or those of the hand?). Don't assume readers are going to blow up the images and hunt around for the terms.

I would like to Piggyback on this suggestion. to no get bogged down by definitions in your posts, you could link to a definition or (if you're real website savvy) have a box with a definition pop up when you move your mouse over a term. Like Brian's charts on the UFRs.

I think this would keep your health professionals interested. I know that I lose interest if I'm reading definitions of a bunch of things that are second nature to me.

hey, stop your whining ! all Mich alumni should be able to follow this, even you art and music school people. seriously, i see what you mean about terminology. i am a bs chem and MD so it is easy to follow what he is saying, though i am a cardiologist and not an orthopedist. i admit it would be difficult for non medical professionals to follow it.

Lumbricals are adjunct finger flexors that originate from the stronger flexor digitorum profundus tendons themselves. The dorsal interossei are responsible for spreading fingers wide, so would affect properly positioning fingers for gripping a football.

Likely more importantly, the ulnar nerve innervates the ring and pinky finger flexor digitorum profundus, which flexes the metacarpophalangeal, proximal interphalangeal and distal interphalangeal joints (grip), as well as the flexor digiti minimi brevis (another pinky finger flexor), and also the flexor carpi ulnaris, very strong wrist flexor (used in such actions when hammering or with follow-through throwing a football (but I'm not sure if that muscle already receives its innervation ahead of where Denard had his injured. Either way, good start to your blog but probably good to have other medically trained people proof for completeness and accuracy before disseminating information.

FCU would be huge too in the follow through of the throwing motion, and it's innervation would likely be affected.

In regards to what I posted, I was trying to not get into the nitty gritty details. All the hand muscles are essential to grip, but without the intrinsic hand muscles (dorsal and palmar interossei and lumbricals) your hand cannot have the base needed to grip

The median nerve is still functioning so index and middle lumbricals are fine, the ulnar nerve injury renders only the 4th and 5th lumbricals weak... Interossei like I said would affect positioning of fingers on the football appropriately. Hand is complex no doubt.

Thanks for some early input. I started this on a whim at lunch yesterday, so it should get more polished as I research some ways to incorporate your suggestions. I appreciate them, and welcome more comments/criticism regarding what I can do to improve my posts.

Also, in regard to Denard wearing a sleeve, my guess is he was symptom-free entering the Nebraska game, and he probably didn't like the way a sleeve constricted his ability to bend his elbow to end-range